Rumor: New Yamaha R6 for 2017

JPSLotus · Sep 19, 2016

Saw this over on Asphalt and Rubber.

For a couple months now, we’ve had some indications that Yamaha was getting ready to release a new sport bike. With the Yamaha YZF-R1 coming up on two-years-old, the timing suggested that Yamaha was ready for a follow-up to that hit. That is to say, it is time for a new Yamaha YZF-R6.

Yamaha seems to agree, today posting a teaser video to its website and social media accounts. The video is sanitized from giving away too much information, with us only seeing a rider going around a race track. The sound though, is a strong giveaway.

The video’s soundtrack is filled with the screaming of a multi-cylinder machine. Our ear hears a four-cylinder engine, with a flat-plane crankshaft, that is revving to the stratosphere.

This give us a strong indication that a supersport bike is just around the corner, and the video ends with the promise of showing more on October 4th, the first press day of the INTERMOT trade show in Cologne, Germany.

If our assumptions are correct, it is of note then that Yamaha didn’t give the new R6 a crossplane crank, like on the R1. This is because Yamaha has been touting the benefits of the crossplane firing order for some time now.

The Japanese brand has even going as far as to call its three-cylinder and two-cylinder designs, for the FZ-09 and FZ-07 motorcycles, “crossplane engines” in its marketing materials – which is technically true…technically.

The likely explanation for a lack of a crossplane configuration on the 2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 would be to make a design differentiation between it and the YZF-R1.

Manufacturers are struggling to sell 600cc supersports when their 1,000cc superbike offerings are only slightly more expensive, and yet offer much more power and technology.

Because of this, there is a growing need for the supersport class to be more than a watered-down version of a company’s liter-bike offering. Time will tell whether Yamaha has walked that thin line successfully.

2017 Yamaha YZF-R6 Hinted for INTERMOT Debut

If this is the case, it's going to make Honda's decision to end the CBR600RR in Europe look even more foolish, unless of course they plan to take a year off and come back with a new spec in 2018.

Either way, my interest is piqued, and I would genuinely be interested in purchasing a R6 if it does get a true revamp.

Motokitty · Sep 19, 2016

If this is gonna be on INTERMOT in october, they may bring it to motorcycle show in Long Beach in Nov. Are you coming, Jum?

JPSLotus · Sep 19, 2016

Motokitty said:
If this is gonna be on INTERMOT in october, they may bring it to motorcycle show in Long Beach in Nov. Are you coming, Jum?

I have to think if it gets unveiled in October, they will show it in November to get the hype train rolling.

I know a lot of guys think economically speaking, it makes more sense to buy a liter bike over a 600 these days because of the price differential being small. But I'm of the opposite train of thought where I think 90% of the guys running around on liter bikes have no business being on them in spite of the engine settings you can run, and general user friendliness compared to the liter bikes of old. I saw some girl on Instagram other day who looks to be someone who got a bike license in the past 2, 2 1/2 years running around on a CBR1000RR, and my thought was that is just a bad, bad, idea.

AJV80 · Sep 19, 2016

JPSLotus said:
I have to think if it gets unveiled in October, they will show it in November to get the hype train rolling.

I know a lot of guys think economically speaking, it makes more sense to buy a liter bike over a 600 these days because of the price differential being small. But I'm of the opposite train of thought where I think 90% of the guys running around on liter bikes have no business being on them in spite of the engine settings you can run, and general user friendliness compared to the liter bikes of old. I saw some girl on Instagram other day who looks to be someone who got a bike license in the past 2, 2 1/2 years running around on a CBR1000RR, and my thought was that is just a bad, bad, idea.

I agree, so many people these days go out an buy litre bikes. Most would struggle to ring the neck of a 600cc bike around a track let alone litre bike. Most inexperienced or new riders think bigger is better and go for a litre bike because it has a better spec sheet. They believe those specs will automatically transfer to their riding and make them a better rider, rarely the case.

Ive ridden 600's and ridden 1000's, there is a big difference between the two, I have a 750 for that reason. I have to smile when i see a rider who has gone from a learner approved 45hp 250 and then upgraded to a 200hp litre bike.

JPSLotus · Sep 19, 2016

AJV80 said:
I agree, so many people these days go out an buy litre bikes. Most would struggle to ring the neck of a 600cc bike around a track let alone litre bike. Most inexperienced or new riders think bigger is better and go for a litre bike because it has a better spec sheet. They believe those specs will automatically transfer to their riding and make them a better rider, rarely the case.

Ive ridden 600's and ridden 1000's, there is a big difference between the two, I have a 750 for that reason. I have to smile when i see a rider who has gone from a learner approved 45hp 250 and then upgraded to a 200hp litre bike.

See now in America, once you get your motorcycle license, you have no restrictions on what you can ride. Hell, you can go out the next day and buy yourself a R1, and that's it. I still don't know if this is a good or a bad thing.

I'm in a minority here, where I'm probably one of the only diehard GP fans you will ever see posting that rides a Harley and has no sport bike. That being said, I've ridden one R6, and going wide open throttle on that thing was eye-opening. One of the thoughts after the ride was that intelligently speaking, no novice or beginner rider has any business starting on a modern 600cc supersport. It's simply too much power, and yes there are those who have I guess successfully navigated the waters, including friends of mine, but I thought they were idiots for doing so. One who said starting on a 600 was no big deal eventually lost his leg after crashing his R1.

I don't know, my philosophy with bikes is the same as it is with cars: respect the power no matter how much experience you have. We're not professional riders, and as much as we might daydream about it, reality needs to enter into it. Riding on the street is very much a zero sum game, and with the idiots driving cars, adding to the danger by riding bikes you are ill-equipped to effectively handle, or push to their limits is ....... stupid.

I agree completely with you that most are incapable of wringing out a 600, so why they think moving up to the liter bikes is a good idea is beyond me. An ..... can ride fast in a straight line. But that's never been where the skill factors in. Me personally, I'd rather learn the 600 for a long while before considering going any higher.

AJV80 · Sep 19, 2016

JPSLotus said:
See now in America, once you get your motorcycle license, you have no restrictions on what you can ride. Hell, you can go out the next day and buy yourself a R1, and that's it. I still don't know if this is a good or a bad thing.

I'm in a minority here, where I'm probably one of the only diehard GP fans you will ever see posting that rides a Harley and has no sport bike. That being said, I've ridden one R6, and going wide open throttle on that thing was eye-opening. One of the thoughts after the ride was that intelligently speaking, no novice or beginner rider has any business starting on a modern 600cc supersport. It's simply too much power, and yes there are those who have I guess successfully navigated the waters, including friends of mine, but I thought they were idiots for doing so. One who said starting on a 600 was no big deal eventually lost his leg after crashing his R1.

I don't know, my philosophy with bikes is the same as it is with cars: respect the power no matter how much experience you have. We're not professional riders, and as much as we might daydream about it, reality needs to enter into it. Riding on the street is very much a zero sum game, and with the idiots driving cars, adding to the danger by riding bikes you are ill-equipped to effectively handle, or push to their limits is ....... stupid.

I agree completely with you that most are incapable of wringing out a 600, so why they think moving up to the liter bikes is a good idea is beyond me. An ..... can ride fast in a straight line. But that's never been where the skill factors in. Me personally, I'd rather learn the 600 for a long while before considering going any higher.

I do love the low down power you get from a litre bike which can make commute riding easier, but these days with all the high revving over square bore litre bikes being produced to battle in the hp wars. The low down torque and midrange of a litre bike 10 years ago is being exchanged for top end horsepower.

Any ..... can go fast in a straight line, it takes little skill and gets boring really quick. No matter how fast your bike is in a straight line or how much power it has, you will become accustomed to it and always want more power. Corners are where all the fun begins with riding and smaller capacity bikes like 600cc do them so much better. I know many people who went from a learner bike to a litre bike and their riding has suffered and some have crashed. To jump from a 250 learner bike to a 200hp litre bike is similar to the jump Jack Miller made from Moto3 to MotoGP. Jack is a professional motorcycle rider admittedly he is pushing the bike to its limits. But you cant tell me someone inexperienced who buys a litre bike isn't going to at some point push their limits and try to go faster. Miller had loads of crashes trying to handle all the extra power and he is a professional

Its sad to hear the Honda are ceasing to build their 600cc sports bike, but great to hear Yamaha will continue to.

Motokitty · Sep 20, 2016

Lots of people buy 600 as their first bike cus people tell them they will grow out of 250-300cc very quickly. Most of my riding friends said the same to me when I was buying my first bike. And sure after few months we all feel like we can ride a bigger bike, no? I was lucky cus I had a riding instructor who told me that lots of people actually can't ride 300 to its full capacity (I took it as a challenge), and also I test-rode several different bikes, both 250-300 and 600cc class so I could actually feel the difference.
I'm still riding my CB300F and trying to get better at cornering and stuff. My riding buddy let me ride his ZX-6R and FZ-09 time to time and yes ZX takes on corners super smooth and FZ got crazy amount of torque. But I don't think I could appreciate the bikes' capability nor could I handle them WELL if they were my first bike.
Recently my riding buddy said that he thinks he missed out on 300cc bikes cus he started out on 600 and never had a chance to whip 300 around on twisties till now (on my bike).
And that's one of the reason that I'm considering to keep my 300 even after I get a bigger bike. Going fast on straight is one thing but going fast and smooth on corners is totally different thing.

AJV80 · Sep 20, 2016

Motokitty said:
Lots of people buy 600 as their first bike cus people tell them they will grow out of 250-300cc very quickly. Most of my riding friends said the same to me when I was buying my first bike. And sure after few months we all feel like we can ride a bigger bike, no? I was lucky cus I had a riding instructor who told me that lots of people actually can't ride 300 to its full capacity (I took it as a challenge), and also I test-rode several different bikes, both 250-300 and 600cc class so I could actually feel the difference.
I'm still riding my CB300F and trying to get better at cornering and stuff. My riding buddy let me ride his ZX-6R and FZ-09 time to time and yes ZX takes on corners super smooth and FZ got crazy amount of torque. But I don't think I could appreciate the bikes' capability nor could I handle them WELL if they were my first bike.
Recently my riding buddy said that he thinks he missed out on 300cc bikes cus he started out on 600 and never had a chance to whip 300 around on twisties till now (on my bike).
And that's one of the reason that I'm considering to keep my 300 even after I get a bigger bike. Going fast on straight is one thing but going fast and smooth on corners is totally different thing.

I'm with you on that, the 250cc and 300cc bikes are great fun and teach you how to get the most out of a motorcycle. I can understand why you would want to keep it as well. My first road bike was an Aprillia RS125, I loved that bike and it could hold so much corner speed and it was so much fun to ride. Mind you it would lose about 20kph in speed if you rode it into a head wind but that didn't matter, I was just happy to be riding it. It was the sort of bike that you felt so comfortable that you would speed up entering the corners.

So many new riders think the sooner they are riding a the latest 200hp superbike missile, the sooner they will become better riders. it really doesn't work like that.

Arrabbiata1 · Sep 20, 2016

AJV80 said:
I'm with you on that, the 250cc and 300cc bikes are great fun and teach you how to get the most out of a motorcycle. I can understand why you would want to keep it as well. My first road bike was an Aprillia RS125, I loved that bike and it could hold so much corner speed and it was so much fun to ride. Mind you it would lose about 20kph in speed if you rode it into a head wind but that didn't matter, I was just happy to be riding it. It was the sort of bike that you felt so comfortable that you would speed up entering the corners.

So many new riders think the sooner they are riding a the latest 200hp superbike missile, the sooner they will become better riders. it really doesn't work like that.

I've seen talented riders smoke hyper sports bikes on RS125s. The 250 was a true track day weapon in the right hands.

Totally agree. The other thing that frustrates me on the track is the buffer of electronics these days. You can visibly see electronic aids managing a lap time. I worry that to some it not only results in an overestimation of ability but a sense of invincibility which is a very dangerous thing - particularly if they ride on the road. Modern electronics should be deployed to enhance and compliment a riders ability not compensate for inability.

AJV80 · Sep 20, 2016

Arrabbiata1 said:
I've seen talented riders smoke hyper sports bikes on RS125s. The 250 was a true track day weapon in the right hands.

Totally agree. The other thing that frustrates me on the track is the buffer of electronics these days. You can visibly see electronic aids managing a lap time. I worry that to some it not only results in an overestimation of ability but a sense of invincibility which is a very dangerous thing - particularly if they ride on the road. Modern electronics should be deployed to enhance and compliment a riders ability not compensate for inability.

The new generation of sports bikes now are all so good that it has become very much about who has the most sophisticated electronic aids to set them apart. The R1M apparently even has a GPS system to pre program settings on specific parts of a track, this stuff wasn't even at a GP level 15 years ago, now its available off the showroom floor on a production model.

Electronics are getting better and better and at the same time cheaper, who knows where bikes will be in 20 years time. Electric powered bikes, you just punch in the lap time you want and the bike does the rest, including all the riding for you.

Kind of takes all the fun out of it for me, The thing I love about riding is the mechanical connection you have with the bike. Nothing wrong with electronic aids to assist the rider but when they get to the level that you just basically ham fist a 200hp bike out of a corner and nothing bad happens. I think it will begin to make people de-sensitized to the risks and lose respect for the power of these bikes.

Richy56 · Sep 20, 2016

Arrabbiata1 said:
I've seen talented riders smoke hyper sports bikes on RS125s. The 250 was a true track day weapon in the right hands.

Totally agree. The other thing that frustrates me on the track is the buffer of electronics these days. You can visibly see electronic aids managing a lap time. I worry that to some it not only results in an overestimation of ability but a sense of invincibility which is a very dangerous thing - particularly if they ride on the road. Modern electronics should be deployed to enhance and compliment a riders ability not compensate for inability.

I'll second that, I have a rgv 250 and on my local twisties and short straights it's pisses on most bigger bikes.

I had a zx10r for a few years and whilst it's was great fun and easy to ride at slow speeds it's just was too much for English roads. I also had a 04 kawa 636 which was brill, wish I had kept it. Lots of torque, modern 600 are a bit top end.

Richy56 · Sep 20, 2016

Arrabbiata1 said:
I've seen talented riders smoke hyper sports bikes on RS125s. The 250 was a true track day weapon in the right hands.

Totally agree. The other thing that frustrates me on the track is the buffer of electronics these days. You can visibly see electronic aids managing a lap time. I worry that to some it not only results in an overestimation of ability but a sense of invincibility which is a very dangerous thing - particularly if they ride on the road. Modern electronics should be deployed to enhance and compliment a riders ability not compensate for inability.

I'll second that, I have a rgv 250 and on my local twisties and short straights it's pisses on most bigger bikes.

I had a zx10r for a few years and whilst it's was great fun and easy to ride at slow speeds it's just was too much for English roads. I also had a 04 kawa 636 which was brill, wish I had kept it. Lots of torque, modern 600 are a bit top end.

Arrabbiata1 · Sep 20, 2016

AJV80 said:
Kind of takes all the fun out of it for me, The thing I love about riding is the mechanical connection you have with the bike. Nothing wrong with electronic aids to assist the rider but when they get to the level that you just basically ham fist a 200hp bike out of a corner and nothing bad happens. I think it will begin to make people de-sensitized to the risks and lose respect for the power of these bikes.

100% agree

yamfan · Sep 20, 2016

Richy56 said:
I'll second that, I have a rgv 250 and on my local twisties and short straights it's pisses on most bigger bikes.

I had a zx10r for a few years and whilst it's was great fun and easy to ride at slow speeds it's just was too much for English roads. I also had a 04 kawa 636 which was brill, wish I had kept it. Lots of torque, modern 600 are a bit top end.

In my youth I had a 350lc and a 500lc. Probably the best biking days I've had were on those bikes. You can't beat a good two stroker for a thrash around the twisties, modern litre sports bikes are too much and better suited to the track. I wish I hadn't sold the buggers though, their values are going through the roof nowadays.

Richy56 · Sep 20, 2016

yamfan said:
In my youth I had a 350lc and a 500lc. Probably the best biking days I've had were on those bikes. You can't beat a good two stroker for a thrash around the twisties, modern litre sports bikes are too much and better suited to the track. I wish I hadn't sold the buggers though, their values are going through the roof nowadays.

Your rights values are going up! Always wanted to ride a 500 stroker, never got the chance.

I use my Yz for enduro too, it's light, easy to maintain and loads of torque for those big hills.

Arrabbiata1 · Sep 20, 2016

Richy56 said:
Your rights values are going up! Always wanted to ride a 500 stroker, never got the chance.

I use my Yz for enduro too, it's light, easy to maintain and loads of torque for those big hills.

Unlike Yamfan, I had the RD400 - much to my chagrin, everyone else was on Beckett or Stan Stephens tuned LCs. Had a mate with an RG500 though. Whenever I rode it I had the clutch lever covered!! Bizarrely though, the 350LC had a bigger kick - or rather, the powerband was narrower and came in like a light switch.

Remember the X7? Had a tricked up one for track - sprayed black with a 7Up livery - tuned to buggery. Used to take it down to Santa Pod to slay middle weight muscle bikes.

Hollywood · Sep 20, 2016

As a dealer, the 600cc sport bikes no longer makes sense. the price is to high for the typical buyer, and the performance difference is not that great compared to the used market (at a fraction of the price).

JPSLotus · Sep 20, 2016

Hollywood said:
As a dealer, the 600cc sport bikes no longer makes sense. the price is to high for the typical buyer, and the performance difference is not that great compared to the used market (at a fraction of the price).

You're a dealer?

What kind of bikes?

yamfan · Sep 20, 2016

Richy56 said:
Your rights values are going up! Always wanted to ride a 500 stroker, never got the chance.

I use my Yz for enduro too, it's light, easy to maintain and loads of torque for those big hills.

I've got a CR500 supermoto that I used to race. It's light and seriously quick, but it tries to kill you every time you open the throttle without it being completely upright and in line. LOL

yamfan · Sep 20, 2016

Arrabbiata1 said:
Unlike Yamfan, I had the RD400 - much to my chagrin, everyone else was on Beckett or Stan Stephens tuned LCs. Had a mate with an RG500 though. Whenever I rode it I had the clutch lever covered!! Bizarrely though, the 350LC had a bigger kick - or rather, the powerband was narrower and came in like a light switch.

Remember the X7? Had a tricked up one for track - sprayed black with a 7Up livery - tuned to buggery. Used to take it down to Santa Pod to slay middle weight muscle bikes.

I had an X7 when I was 17, great light little bike. Both my 350 and 500 were tuned by Terry Beckett, the guy was amazing with engines, my 500 could out drag my buddy's GSXR11 in a straight line, let alone through twisties.
After following Terry's advice to run pre-mix and Castrol A747 I never had a single engine problem. The only other special measure was to fit new big end bearings and put a few welds on the crankshafts to stop them twisting as they were press fit. Top man was Terry.

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